Currently the only way for a student's time zone to be updated is for the student to update this themselves in their own student account. It would be great if admin can do this on behalf of the student. Admin can change everything else about the student such as the address, phone number, even their name, so it seems like time zone would be an easy thing to add to this list. Thanks!
9 comments
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Deacon Vic Broberg This would be a great option!
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Claire Ngo This would save Admin's time from googling students' local time.
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Deacon Vic Broberg We have, and I specifically did when I was a TA for a course, had issues with distance students and foreign students thinking that the syllabus time was also their time, granted these incidences were few and far between, even the zoom invitation did say the time zone, the student attended class when their time zone matched the syllabus and the time it said in populi but once I sent them instructions on how to set their time zone they started showing up much closer to the right time. We "activated" their account so it defaulted to our time zone.
A better option may be to possibly have Populi default the timezone to match the student or account person's home address or ask when inputting the home address: "Would you like [THIS] to be your default time zone in Populi?" That way, Time Zone can be changed separately but when the address is set Populi can realise that the student may be on-line / distance so they are not the same time zone as the institution.
Just a thought. -
Adam Sentz Deacon Vic Broberg - Times that aren't displayed in a user's timezone are labeled with the appropriate timezone. Upon login, Populi automatically prompts users to update their timezones (which they can do with one click) if they have a different timezone in Populi than the one on their computer.
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Deacon Vic Broberg Adam Sentz Thank you. I guess we had some PEBCAK issues then. I did not realise that Populi prompted the users, especially since I live/work in the same timezone. I learned something today!
Happy New Year! -
Adam Sentz Deacon Vic Broberg - No problem. I thought it was worth mentioning as most users will never see those.
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Claire Ngo Any update on this feature development? Enabling this feature will make lives easier for many, at least at our university. For example, we have a global classroom and our students have missed live lectures because they got the time wrong. Imagine how frustrated this can be! We provided instructions on how to change the time zone setting. Unfortunately, no everyone has completed this step. What some consider trivial could be daunting for others who are less tech-savvy.
Populi team, you have always been responsive. Thank you in advance for addressing this pain point.
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Adam Sentz Claire Ngo - If a student logs in and their Populi Timezone doesn't match their computer's timezone they will be prompted to fix it with one click. It's a big yellow bar at the top. So not a lot of tech-savvy required there, hopefully.
We like this approach because Populi has all the info needed to prompt them to fix it (their Populi Timezone setting, and the timezone of their computer right now). A staff member might think they do, but may not know that the student isn't currently where their primary residence is or something like that.
Maybe an easy way to check all students timezone's at once would be handy. Then you could look for outliers and prompt individuals to make sure their setting is correct rather than just asking everyone to check. -
Claire Ngo Hi Adam,
I have seen the yellow message bar when I traveled. Personally, I find the design very clever because of its dynamic nature. However, like I said, the prompting has NOT worked for some. They have been ignoring the message for a long time (they are not new users).
It would be so easy for me as an admin to click the time displayed under a user profile photo and switch the default time zone to a local one. People do travel and the admin might get it wrong on occasions. I think we can live with that small discrepancy, compared with setting every user to the SAME default timezone.